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Hi Everyone!

I made it home yesterday by lunchtime. I was able to spend the afternoon unpacking and taking it easy.

The key to traveling long distance is, for me, a head game. On my way to Africa I can't sleep eight hours on a plane, so I watch the flight-map. I normally take a short nap while we are waiting for dinner to be served, then another afternoon nap after dinner (because carb-comas, am I right?) I normally wake up after a few hours, but try to fall asleep when we're off the coast of Liberia and again when we're close to Angola. We did take cat-naps on our last flight from Johannesburg to Nelspruit, which is only about 30 minutes. Once you're on the ground, no matter how you feel, no napping! Friends don't let friends take naps!

Flying home is similar. I normally take two naps on the first half of the flight (Johannesburg to Dakar) but there is an extra three hours on the return flight, so I can stay up longer. (I watched four movies on the way home between my naps!) When we take off from Dakar, that's when sleep becomes important. I try to take two more good naps. I didn't have the best seat-mate on the return flight. (This is why headphones and eye masks are important!) After a leisurely drive home (my GPS normally takes me through the Northside to 28 and 422, but yesterday it took me through Monroeville and Saltsburg) I took time to unpack, sorting laundry and souvenirs as I went. I thought I might have less to fly home with, since I had an entire carry-on of American food items for the Rebros. As it turns out, they had a friend visit a few months ago and he forgot some souvenirs he bought, so I brought those home to mail to him.

I would say I don't do a lot when I come home, but anyone who knows me knows I'd be lying. I had ordered a shelving unit prior to my trip, so of course it was in a box waiting for me. I put that together and organized things accordingly. After that I did relax! For me, on the East Coast, 8pm is the magic number. It's not too dramatically early for bed on our end, and that puts you at 2am South African time. Being that you're no longer on a plan or any other form of transportation, you can really sleep! And trust me, after 24 hours of being in transit, you can really sleep! I slept about 9.5 hours, which means I'm back on American time and well rested to go back to my day job today!

Now that I'm past the first recovery day, I'll try to write again soon about the rest of my time in South Africa and what that means as we move forward in our work.

Two Years On...

As I tried to fall asleep last night after I wrote the last post, I was struck by the fact that I can notice my own growth. I've been home from Africa about 25 months. Maybe because I'm here in this place so infrequently, it's easy to see changes in myself and how I operate. Obviously I've grown in my knowledge about Hands, but that is really minor and a much slower process than other things. We were talking about living in community and the interactions that come with that. It can often make us see the ugliness we can so easily ignore when we are home in our respective offices, because we are so often isolated. There is definite truth it that! The really exciting thing for me is noticing that I have changed though. The ugliness is there, but there is also such encouragement that my heart and my default mode of operation is being changed. I've even been thinking about the post I wrote last night and the conversation I've referenced. I am truly amazed at the events of that conversation and how I really trusted. This is not to brag, but it is definitely an amazing way God has worked in me! If you know me well, you know I am often the queen of indecisiveness. That has been really encouraging! But also, how I interact and love people in general. I've learned to treat people with more grace and not take things so personally. I've also happily noticed a few other general things that are encouraging. I know I'm blessed because Hands is kind of a 'control group' outside of my normal social circle and that might make it easier to judge my own growth. Just know that I'm growing, and be encouraged that if you are pursuing a healthy Christian life, you are too!

Celebrations: Days One and Two

Greetings FROM SOUTH AFRICA!!! Well we are here! It ended up that Sara's other flight was cancelled so she switched to the flight that Jennifer and I were on. We arrived in Johannesburg early Sunday morning and had a few hours to relax before our final flight to Nelspruit. Marc met us at the airport and brought us back to our rooms, and we met a few of the people around the HUB that we hadn't met previously. After that we had a chance to shower and get settled before dinner when everything kicked off. It's so nice to be back!

My week from here on will involve a lot of sessions. (Just like orientation - the good old days!) BUT our first full day (Monday) started off with Morning Prayer Meeting, a short talk with Dan to put us in the right mind, and then it was off to Siyathuthuka! Siyathuthuka is one of the first communities I went to during my orientation over two years ago. It was great walking those roads again, and the building looks amazing! We met at the life center. It was a pension day, so not many care workers were there as they had gone to retrieve their pensions. The kids were still in school at the time, so 10 of us got to go on home visits. I was in a group led by Bentwell. Two of the families we were trying to visit were not home, but Bentwell told us what he knew about their stories and we prayed for them. The second family we went to see was home. A gogo(grandmother), her daughter, and neighbor. Her oldest grandchildren were in school and her youngest were a few yards away playing at the family market. Every family you meet has a similar story. They face a lot of the same challenges and yet every family has such a unique story. This gogo is from Mozambique. She moved to give her family a chance at a better life, but was relocated from her neighborhood (along with her entire community!!!) in order to accommodate the construction of Mbombela Stadium. There are many dark sides to professional sports, and this is just another instance of that. They were relocated to another area but it didn't feel like home and she wasn't happy there. She relocated to Siyathuthuka and is so happy now, she says this is where she will stay.

After visiting with that gogo and her family, we went back to the life center and ate samp with the care workers. The children were still not there yet, so the care workers decided to eat with us first and then we washed the dishes and waited for the children to arrive. We played with the kids. We hoola-hooped (the kids were WAY better at it than we were!) and we danced!!! We sang a few songs, including Wahamba Nathi which is the song I know best and often sing at home in America! After that we had a proper African rain storm and hid out in the life center while we waited for the storm to pass. Then we came back to the Village to clean up, go to debrief and dinner.

Today we woke up and went to Ladies Prayer. We have a devotional, list praises and prayer requests. There is always much to pray about, but as Byron and Diane are leaving to go home this Friday, today was very emotional and bittersweet. There were many hugs and tears.

After Ladies Prayer it was time to dig in to sessions. We are here, after all, because we are each involved with the work of our respective country's International Office in some context. Today we had three sessions. The morning session was broken up into two parts, followed by two additional sessions in the afternoon. It is very challenging, emotional, but also very good. We've seen amazing amounts of honesty and vulnerability these last two days. That has allowed us to really speak into each others' lives through encouragement and new ideas. There are four International Offices outside of South Africa, so it is such a blessing to have these tough discussions together. Different offices have different ideas, and if something isn't working, another office often has good advice. We don't need to reinvent the wheel! Hopefully this experience will strengthen and rejuvenate all of our offices!

It has also been so special to be back and to have face to face conversation with people who have dramatically impacted my life and how I interact with others. Today after one of the sessions, something was really bothering me. I immediately sought advice from someone here who already knows the full context of the situation. While in the past I may have weighed the pros and cons back and forth and come up with a list, etc etc etc (you know how this goes...) I said what I needed to say and I listened to the answer. I trusted in the relationship I have with this friend and in the advice I received. And I'm moving on. Indirectly, in a separate session, we discussed boundaries and the boundaries we need to tear down but also boundaries we need to put in place. How we need to discern the way we allow people to speak into our lives. Some people are loving and truly have our best interest at heart, and some people are not 'our people.' The person I sought out, for better or for worse (but not in the marriage sense) is one of my people. I guess this is part of growing up. It's hard to learn, but so rewarding.

After that, we had another debrief. Today our last session ran long, so luckily the debrief group I attended let us just decompress. Honestly we spent a few minutes of silence just staring at each other. This was a good thing, not an awkward uncomfortable thing. Finally  Brooke and I went to dinner at Daytona and Kristi's. Kristi made us an amazing Greek meal with still-warm chocolate lava cake and ice cream for dessert! After dinner we talked for a long time about anything and everything. My heart is full! I received such a warm 'welcome back' from everyone I knew from my last time in Africa. I've reconnected with old friends and am forming relationships with new friends. God is good!

Tomorrow I know we begin our day with small groups. Then we meet in the field for team building activities... I'll let you know how that goes.

Itinerary!!!

My bags are packed and have been weighed! Today I'm working until 6, spending the night at the airport hotel (in theory, sleeping for a few hours) and leaving bright and early tomorrow! My flight is scheduled to leave Pittsburgh on Saturday at 5:45am and land at 7:20am at JFK. There I will find Jennifer and our flight to Johannesburg takes off at 11:15am. We'll land in South Africa at 8:05am local time (2:05am here) and hopefully meet up with Sara for our final flight at 11:10am (5:05am here) and land in Nelspruit by noon! After that it's only a short drive to Hands at Work in Africa in White River! Celebrations kick off Sunday night. It's going to be a great week!

A Day In The Life...

I have a moment of downtime between Skype meetings. (I just ended a Communications call and will be on a call for the Zambia trip in a bit!) I could be packing, but I decided to blog instead.

In the past I know I've promised to write about what my life is really like. Living in America. Working for orphans in Africa. Two worlds that are so different and yet both so very special to me.

There are many people who read this blog who know me on many different levels. This blog may be very enlightening, or very redundant, but I digress...

So this may shock you, but I am a normal adult with a normal full-time job. I work in an independently owned pharmacy that is open 9 - 6 Monday through Friday and 9 - 3 on Saturday. I either work five week days, or I have one day off during the week and work Saturday. It's busy and it always keeps me on my toes! It's also provides me a structured schedule.

Outside of work, there is a lot more up in the air. In terms of Hands at Work, the main office is in White River, South Africa, with a secondary location in Luanshya, Zambia. We're currently in Daylight Savings Time which means South Africa is 6 hours ahead of EST. In the winter it's 7! The Hands US office is located in San Francisco, California, which is 3 hours behind EST. Meetings are almost always planned clarifying time in Pacific, Central, and Eastern so no one has any confusion!

Hands US came to be in 2007, but in the last two years it has really grown with our incorporation of the Hands Family Reunion into George's fall tour! There are so many people with such varied and unique connections to Hands. Once a month we get together for a general advocates call called 'Hands on Deck', which is a mirror of what happens Friday mornings in South Africa. It's an opportunity to look beyond ourselves and see what God is doing throughout Africa and in the people we work with. As you can imagine, life is a little different in Africa. There is load-shedding, which has been happening a lot recently, which is scheduled (or unscheduled) power outages. The internet is a little less reliable, and technology isn't always at the forefront. So in an effort to keep everyone connected despite distance, the HUB in South Africa will take time out to highlight what is going on in Malawi or Nigeria, etc. We do the same thing with our US staff, highlighting the amazing stories of what is happening in Africa and also lifting up the Americans living in Africa. Right now we have a family from Wisconsin living in South Africa and a volunteer from California living in Zambia. In addition to the Hands on Deck calls, there are prayer meetings every Tuesday evening. Again, this is a mirror of how Hands operates in Africa. It's important to come together to share concerns that we can lift up for one another and also give praise for how God has been working in our lives. Within the last two months we changed the time of our prayer meetings, which has allowed more people to join. It is changing and deepening the bonds within our group.

So in case I've confused you, I work full time 9 - 6, attend Hands on Deck meetings once a month(typically the first Sunday of the month) and attend prayer meetings every Tuesday night.

Now, on to the other, unpredictable stuff. My work is almost entirely done within the US office. Obviously we are spread out across the country, so the concept of the 'office' might be hard to grasp. Hands at Work(US) is a registered non-profit. We have an Executive Board, a Management Team, a Finance Team, and a Communications Team. I'm part of the Communications Team, which works to tell the stories in Africa to our American partners. We send out Newsletters and emails, post stories to the website and also design brochures. I'm sure you get the general idea. The Communications Team is very fulfilling and sometimes unpredictable. Depending on the season and the workload, we might have meetings every week or every other week, once a month, or we might even go without meeting for two months. The Communications Team is a fairly new/young team. We started meeting together last winter, but we have been quite busy recently. The Communications Team in South Africa has launched our new website. (It's the same domain, but an entirely new layout) www.handsatwork.org If you haven't seen it, you should honestly check it out to just see a glimpse of what God is doing in Africa!

Anyway, at the same time the Comm Team in South Africa was launching the website, the Comm Team in the US changed our marketing software, and to top it off, the US team changed our workflow. The workflow process is of course a bit hectic, but will ultimately help us better distribute responsibility moving forward. We've just about figured the new marketing software. I have to admit, this was my baby. I didn't realize it at the time, but I've grown into it. I volunteered to compare and contrast our previous software with our perspective software.  Prior to switching, I set up the new account so I could play with it and see what it would be like, and sent emails to myself to make sure I knew how easy it was to use. Once we decided to make the switch, I added the rest of the committee to the account and set out test campaigns to see what they would look like, etc. And last week I imported all of our contacts into the new software. You can see for the last few weeks, my schedule has been quite busy! Since I ended up spearheading the software switch, I've been doing a lot of troubleshooting and editing. (I'm the one who researched it, so, when it comes to practical application, I'm ahead of the learning curve.) Typically I've been waking up around 6am, emailing someone one the South African team as needed (remember they are 6 hours ahead!), going to work all day, coming home to Skype meetings or sending out and responding to a lot of emails with the other US team members (our graphic designer is in California so he is 3 hours behind!) and finally falling asleep around 1am. I'm a bit of an insomniac to begin with, but this is especially true before I fly to South Africa! I'm a content insomniac; I know I should sleep more, but I don't feel tired throughout the day. Things will really calm down in the next few days, and I think when I return home the team will really develop a nice rhythm.

There it is! My life as a Hands US Advocate in a nutshell! A jumbled and confusing nutshell: I think it'd be a walnut... but a nutshell nonetheless!!!

Life: A lot of Love and a lot of Faith

I've spent the last three days at my best friend's house with their dog, which I loved!, but I am happy to be back in my own space with my own bed. I just woke up from a quiet afternoon nap with my cat!.A change of scenery can really help to put things in perspective!

This particular blog post gives me great anxiety, but perhaps that is why I need to write it. I've met new friends, but I have been guarded the last year I as move forward one day at a time. I am feeling very happy and healthy these days. I'm so excited to see what God does in the next year and to see where He leads! I would be amiss to downplay what He has already done.

I first went to South Africa in February 2013. I didn't meet any of the Hands US staff until October 2013 at the Hands US Family Reunion. Going into 2014, I assumed I'd see everyone at the next October event and that was it. But God knew better.

• On July 10, 2014: my father died of a heart-attack with no warning and no prior symptoms.
• On July 15, 2014: I was invited to go back to Africa in 2015 as part of a team.
• Late September 2014: my best friend of over 15 years told me she was pregnant! During this time I was also busy with meetings and assignments for the Communications team as we prepped for George's fall tour!
• October 10-12, 2014: I traveled to Minnesota to see George and to meet the friends and families that support Mwaiseni and Chisamba in Zambia. The one time I knew I'd be with Hands staff in person instead of just a computer screen, but God had other plans! I was already working with the Communications team, but this is when Brooke encouraged me to go to Celebrations, and to be with and learn from the Communications team at the HUB.
• After returning from Minnesota, I joined the symphony band sponsored by the local university's Community Music School. This forced me to play the French horn on a regular basis. It's been awhile, so this has been both challenging and relaxing!
• January 24, 2015: I joined a book study with a new group of ladies. There were old friends and new friends, and baby Liam! Moms of babies, teenagers, and even grown-ups! Women in all sorts of seasons of life. We meet weekly to be together and quiet the chaos, to talk, pray and laugh together. And eat together, we love desserts! 
• February 6-7, 2015: I traveled to New York to see George, Hands staff, and former Hands volunteers.
• After having the chance to be together, Hands US decided to move its prayer meeting time to allow more volunteers and advocates to join in. We meet weekly over Skype to take time out of our hectic lives to sit, be still, and lift up prayers of praise or concern to our Father. It is a time where we can shift our focus from our to-do lists to build each other up and lean on each other.
• March 25, 2015: Communications meetings picked up again. This meant more meetings and more assignments that challenged me to change my routine, step out of my comfort zone and trust that God would make it work for His glory!
• Last November some ladies from church found out that I played the French horn. A few weeks ago I was approached by the choir director(who is also a trumpet player) about forming an orchestra to play during first service. We've played the last two Sundays and it's been fun!
• Since I've been playing with the orchestra during first service (which is obviously traditional), I've been going to a second church for second service. The second service I've been attending is a contemporary service that is real, no frills, and full of people I love! And two churches = two different sermons, two opportunities for God to challenge you(me)!
• April 28, 2015: my best friend's water broke and baby Madelyn decided she didn't want me to miss her birthday (she was supposed to come when I was in South Africa!) I've spent the last three days at my best friend's house taking care of the dog, and doing what I could to make their homecoming a little bit easier. I put away a load of clean washes from the dishwasher, loaded up all the dirty dishes I could find and hand washed everything else. I also bought a supply of snacks for her husband and bought two quarts of ice cream from The Meadows. One fruity flavor and one chocolaty flavor: balance is key! (This may be the most helpful thing I've done, lol!) I met Madelyn last night and I got to snuggle her for over an hour today. What a blessing to celebrate new life! (And a testimony to what God has done in my life these last nine months!)
• And next week, on May 9th I'll fly to South Africa for International Office Celebrations where I'll be with Brooke, Jennifer, Sara, and Suzette from Hands US(it will be the longest I've been with them in person!) in addition to old and new friends, and of course George! This will be my third trip for Hands in eight months and my first trip to Africa since 2013!
• And next week, on May 9th I'll fly to South Africa for International Office Celebrations where I'll be with Brooke, Jennifer, Sara, and Suzette from Hands US(it will be the longest I've been with them in person!) in addition to old and new friends, and of course George! This will be my third trip for Hands in eight months and my first trip to Africa since 2013!
• Finally, this August(right before my birthday!) I have the opportunity to go to Zambia as part of a team. Old friends and yes, even more new friends! And my fourth trip for Hands in eleven months! I do not think for one second that the increase in my travel and responsibility for Hands is coincidence. God not only knew what I needed in this season, but also how to use this season to grow my faith after my father's death(a loss that so many people struggle with and could easily be paralyzing!)

At first thought, I think my life is pretty uneventful but when I write it down, it's obviously not!

Lastly, I want to thank each and everyone of you that has reached out to me before my trip. I sent out photo cards to many of you. I really had no expectations. I know I can't control what other people do or do not do so I just left it up to God. I have been touched by each donation, each note and each encouragement I've received! Whether you gave $2 or $200, I am so grateful! I know a local bakery that sells amazing cookies for $1 and I realize you could buy two cookies with the $2 you gave me. That might be a silly example, but I'm food-motivated and you get the point. Everyone has responsibilities and priorities in their life and the fact that so many of you chose to make my trip one of your priorities has been truly humbling. If you were unable to donate financially, don't fret - pray! Prayers are the most worthy currency and the ultimate gesture! Pray that over the next week everyone would arrive in South Africa healthy and in one piece. That jet-lag and travel would not completely drain us. That we would arrive ready to worship, to be stretched and to be challenged. This work is so rewarding, but it does not get easier. Our hearts are continually broken for the children of Africa: as we strive to care for more vulnerable children, we are inevitably met with more terrible stories of injustice. 

Thank you for all of your support. Thank you for taking the time to read this! (I know the perils of the internet. Facebook, buzzfeed, and candy crush - oh my!) And please, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to use the contact form on the left or email jessinsafrica@gmail.com. I'd be happy to write about what you want to know more about!

Countdown!!!

Well it's almost here!!! There is only one more week until my trip to South Africa. I'm sure this week will fly by and feel like time is moving to slowly at the same time.

People will be attending from our international offices in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and of course the United States. Some people will be traveling as early as the 5th, while three of us from the US office are flying out on the 9th. Prayers for safe travels, successful connections, and health our appreciated! Brooke, Jennifer, Sara and Suzette are traveling from the US office (and me of course!) Brooke and Suzette are traveling earlier. I'm spending the night, or at least a few hours, at the airport hotel Friday night. My first flight leaves at 5:45am and will take me to JFK. I'll have a few hours to relax and find food, and find Jennifer! Jennifer is on the US MGMT team in addition to the COMM team, and we happened to book the same flight out of JFK. Sara is on the next flight out of JFK and will hopefully meet us in Johannesburg before our short flight to Kruger. We'll land around noon local time and once we make it back to the HUB we'll have time to shower and make ourselves feel human again before kicking things off Sunday night.

International Celebrations will last for four days, culminating with meetings Thursday afternoon. I am looking forward to it very much and cannot wait to tell you everything that happens! Friday I'll have time to just soak up time with friends and life in Africa. I'll fly out Saturday evening and land early Sunday morning.

Another thing to be praying about: Teams season is also getting into high gear. We have teams that have members who have been to Africa before, but we are also sending people to Africa for the first time. We have teams of college students, teams with young families, old families...it's an exciting mix!!!